ClamCase converts iPad to laptop

Although the company didn't have a booth on the floor, ClamCase met with Macworld privately to demonstrate the very first ready-for-sale version of the upcoming $150 ClamCase, a keyboard case and stand for Apple's iPad. Here's a closer look.

The ClamCase's full-size keyboard connects to your iPad via Bluetooth just as you'd connect any other Bluetooth keyboard. Once you turn on the ClamCase and select it in the iPad's Bluetooth settings screen, you enter a four-digit PIN to pair the two. From that point on, turning on the ClamCase automatically reconnects it.

The ClamCase provides a complete Mac-style keyboard with keys that feel quite a bit like the keys on Apple's current keyboards. You get real Mac modifier keys—on both sides of the Spacebar—as well as a standard inverted-T group of arrow keys, an fn key, and a full array of iPad-function F-keys. Among those are dedicated Cut, Copy, and Paste keys.

The sides of the ClamCase provide openings for all the iPad's ports, connectors, speakers, and microphones. You can also see the mini-USB port for charging the ClamCase's internal battery. (You can check the current battery level at any time by pressing fn+Control on the keyboard—the power light flashes one, two, three, or four times to indicate the charge level.)